Ephesians

The Futility of the World’s Thinking

After spending the first part of Ephesians 4 dealing with the nature of the church, spiritual gifts, and Christian maturity, Paul turns in verse 17 to the issue of living as a Christian in an unbelieving world. Despite the passage of two thousand years, the world we live in is amazingly similar to the world of Paul’s time. So Paul’s word to us is as forceful and applicable today as it was then. Notice the force of his words: “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord” (Ephesians 4:17). This is the finger of God placed squarely at the root of a human problem.

Paul goes on to say, “You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking” (Ephesians 4:17). He is not talking about the cultural distinction between Jews and Gentiles, but the spiritual distinction between those who are in Christ (you and I as Christians) and those who are outside of Christ—the worldlings. “You Christians,” Paul tells us with intensity and clarity, “must no longer live as non-Christians live.” How do non-Christians live? In the futility of their thinking, says Paul. The thinking of the world is pointless.

So we must live differently from non-Christians—and Paul begins with the issue of the mind. He does not start with our actions, but with our thought-life. He does not begin with the outward, but with the inward. He declares the thinking of the world to be empty and futile, and he contrasts the world’s philosophy of living, the world’s values, with the philosophy and values of God.

Here we see the fundamental fracture between Christianity and the world. Here we see why the Christian cannot love the world and God the Father at the same time. This is why friendship with the world is enmity with God, according to James 4:4. This is why Jesus Himself says, “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight” (Luke 16:15).

Paul rubs our noses in the fundamental issue, and we must face it squarely: Either God is right or the world is right, one or the other. It cannot be both. As Christians, we must choose on which basis we are going to live our lives. If we are to follow Christ, we must be willing to have our thinking transformed. That is the first issue a new Christian faces: a completely altered outlook on life. Christianity is not merely an add-on philosophy or a little different way of looking at things. It is a revolutionary alteration of one’s worldview and way of living. Christianity is diametrically opposed to the mindset of this world.